Defense leads Broncos to 41-13 win over Wood River

October 29, 2011

BLACKFOOT â€” Colby Pearson scored four touchdowns and the heavily favored Blackfoot Broncos took care of business in a convincing 41-13 home win over Wood River on Friday evening.
The visiting Wolverines put a brief scare into the large Blackfoot crowd who braved the bone chilling wind as they forced a fumble on Blackfoot's first offensive play of the game.
The defense quickly alleviated that anxious moment however as they drove the Wolverines back on the next three plays and after a punt, the Broncos wound up with a net loss of five yards on the the whole series of events.
"I was happy with the defense and with what they were doing," Blackfoot head coach Stan Buck said. "They were able to get physical with their front line and took over the line of scrimmage."
After the defensive stuff, Blackfoot then turned to the high octane offensive unit and the big guys up front did a fine job of plowing the road for Ryan Gallegos as he picked up 54 yards rushing on his first two carries from scrimmage.
In the end it was a Trae Pilster 8-yard touchdown pass to Colton Dance that capped the five play drive and after a Luis Oseguera extra point, the score stood at 7-0.
The Blackfoot defense then turned in a three and out which was cashed in by the Blackfoot offense for a Oseguera 26-yard field goal making the score 10-0.
Yet another Blackfoot defensive stand regained the ball just moments later and with :20 remaining in the opening quarter Colby Pearson hauled in a 10-yard pass from Pilster for a commanding 17-0 lead.
In the opening quarter Blackfoot held the Wolverines vaunted rushing attack to -2 yards of total offense while allowing no first downs.
That defensive effort spilled over into the second quarter as they shut out the Wolverines up until a late touchdown strike with just :15 remaining in the half.
"We had a little bit of a break down there at the end of the first half and we told the kids about it," Coach Buck said. "You want to look good for an entire game. No one wants to look bad out there but in the end the kids made some big plays and I'm happy with that."
While the Blackfoot defense was burying the Wolverines, the Blackfoot passing game was starting to click as Pearson reeled in two more touchdown grabs in the second quarter for a 31-7 half time bulge.
Out of the locker room it was more of the same as far as the defensive effort was concerned as Pearson scored his fourth touchdown of the contest from the defensive side of the ball.
With the Wolverines backed up in their own end of the field midway through the third quarter, an interior defensive lineman got a strip of the Wolverine ball carrier. The ensuing fumble was scooped up by an opportunistic Pearson who then raced 19-yards for the score and a 38-7 Bronco lead.
Oseguera capped the Bronco scoring on the evening when he drilled a 25-yard field goal into the stiff wind early in the fourth quarter and from there, Blackfoot just ran the clock down for the win.
"It's hard in a game like this to keep your intensity up throughout the whole game," Coach Buck said. "The kids did a good job though and we were able to get a lot of guys some playing time. It was fun."
With the win, Blackfoot advances to the next round of the state playoffs and in an insane bracketing move by the Idaho Athletic Association, the High Country Conference Champions will now travel to Boise to take on the conference champion from that district.
"It's always tough to win on the road and to win the conference and then have to travel to a number one seed while Hillcrest, who finished third in the conference gets to stay home doesn't make much sense," Coach Buck said. "There should be a cross over situation and it's a little frustrating for us. We can go over there and get a win though. We've shown that we can do that but it will be a tough job to get done."
More than likely the opponent will be Skyview but the date, time and venue have yet to be set.